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Sometimes, It’s Never Over

It has been opined that “It’s not over until it’s over”. It has also been observed that there are two types of people in this world, those that divide people up into two groups and those that don’t. In that vein, we come to a local news opinion television program called “The Georgia Gang“.

I’m a fan of the program, as is my lovely bride. I have caught her yelling at the television on occasion when Georgia Gang is on. I’m largely over yelling at the TV, but if I were to do so, the Georgia Gang would probably be the target. The program is rarely boring, and on occasion, quite interesting. The format is largely the same each week, and there are four panelists; their demographics and political persuasions can be sliced and diced in a variety of interesting ways. There are some hardened positions about certain matters, and in that way, the program can be quite predictable. Predictable should not be equated with boring in this case, because periodic fire fights break out over interesting things.

Today’s program (4/26/2009, Confederate Memorial Day) was no exception and things exploded over events that largely happened in the 1860’s. Yes, you can’t live in Atlanta without discussing Atlanta’s first urban renewal program, which was instigated at the direction of a certain General Sherman. And, that matter is part of a larger matter, a certain war. Atlantans can’t even agree upon the right term for the war that started in 1861; there are those that use the term Civil War, while others, usually those who have been educated in The South, often use the term The War Between The States. A few use the euphemism The Recent Unpleasantness. People can’t even agree upon the names of many of the significant battles of the War. To quote a website: The troops of the North came mainly from cities, towns, and villages, and were, therefore, impressed by some natural object near the scene of the conflict and named the battle from it. The soldiers from the South were chiefly from the country and were, therefore, impressed by some artificial object near the field of action. Thus you have the battles of Pittsburgh Landing and Shiloh Church being fought in the same place.

Regardless, one would think that for something that had ended officially at Appomattox Courthouse (or Clover Hill, if you wish) in 1865, that hostilities would be over and done with. Of course, that’s not the case, and an interesting rapid fire discussion broke out on The Georgia Gang today between two panelists.

At the center of things is Loren Collins, who is an interesting character in his own right. In the most recent state-wide election cycle, Mr. Collins was an official write-in candidate against Hank Johnson, of the 4th Congressional District of Georgia. Johnson ran without opposition by the Republican Party, a legacy of Congressional gerrymandering in recent decades. Mr. Collins felt that this was inappropriate for a country such as ours. Of course, another point of contention would be over the manner in which we describe our form of government; Republic or Democracy. In any case, Mr. Collins had virtually no chance of success, but did manage to garner 159 votes in the election. However, we have not heard the last from Mr. Collins, and a recent example appeared in the Atlanta Journal Constitution on April 24th; please see here.

The Georgia Gang ends each week’s broadcast with Winners and Losers, and our Mr. Collins became the center of an embroiled discussion between two panelists, one Caucasian-American and one African-American. More heat than light was generated, but this little tiff is yet another example of things that never seem to conclude. And, that if it hadn’t been this particular subject, it would have been another. My point is that if we are to continue as the dynamic society that we have been in the past, this is the sort of discussion that will occur.

So much has been made of trying to maintain civil order, and a lot of institutions have gamed the system to their advantage. Congress has used computer technology to fix elections so that we have reached a point of stasis. Expression of conservative thought on college campuses appears to be a thing of the past. While the automated telephone support systems tell us that “Your call is important to us”, we know better.

Yet, if we are to be a free society, accommodations have to be made to opposing opinion. Accommodation is not the same as agreement. A lot of people assume that because they express their opinion, this should also include the squelching of opposing thought. There are euphemisms for this, but at the heart, it’s just arrogance and then using whatever clout they can deliver to silence any possible opposition. If we are to remain a dynamic society, there has to be freedom of expression and freedom of thought. To do otherwise is to slowly grind our society down into a bland and shapeless mass of mediocrity.

A startling number of politicians, at all levels of government, have reached office by the slimmest of majorities. It is no longer sufficient for a politician to simply play the numbers and say that because they won, they have the right to do anything that they want. Regardless of who voted for them, they have the obligation to serve, as best they can, every citizen of our Republic. Because the reality is that in recent years, almost half of the people that voted didn’t vote for them.

One of television’s lasting legacies for our society is that we expect problems to be concluded in 60 minutes, less time for commercials, but life doesn’t work that way. The reality is that some things are never over and that we need to reach a sense of accommodation and acceptance.

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3 Responses

Thanks for the heads-up on the Georgia Gang; I had no idea that this had taken place. I came across your site in looking for feedback/response to my column, so it’s a nice surprise to see it made the local tv news. I take it that they actually referred to me by name, but how much discussion was there really about me or my column? I have my fingers crossed that I was a Winner, not a Loser.

I don’t suppose you happen to have the program taped or Tivoed? I’m of half a mind to order a copy, but I’d like to save the fifty dollar cost if I can (and, of course, know whether it’s worth seeing for myself).

Thanks again for the kind words. And btw, I’m a fellow Brookhaven resident myself.

I seem to remember that you were a Winner with Jeff Dickerson and Phil Kent couldn’t quite bring himself to describe you as a Loser. In any case, it was a spirited discussion. I believe that back copies of The Georgia Gang are archived at the Atlanta History Center. At least they used to be. I can’t do DVD video recording anymore because of a cheesy LG DVR, which thinks everything is subject to digital rights management. Using VHS tapes seems to be a little too vintage, etc. Besides, there’s not all that much on TV right now that’s worth recording, in my humble estimation.

I’ve been in Brookhaven since 1978, we’re getting pretty uptown. First Library Coffee, and now Taqueria Verde. Best,

[…] the issues raised by the war keep raising their heads. Consider my blog item from 2009, titled Sometimes, It’s Never Over, about an on-air squabble between two panelists on the local news program “The Georgia […]